What did you envision your life would look like by this time?
Did you imagine a steady climb of the corporate ladder to ultimately land your dream role? Or, eagerly anticipate specific milestones and memories shared with the ones you love?
It starts young as we are asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and over time, the idea of who we are becoming is translated into ambitions and goals that steer us toward our dream life.
The world is our oyster, right?
“And yet, as we grow and put our feet to the pavement of pursuing that life, the tension between the actuality of our dream and the reality of life becomes more apparent. The loss of the dream job, the closed door that solidifies this isn’t the direction anymore, or the unexpected death of a loved one.”
What we once believed was possible now becomes the very thing we doubt as the unpredictabilities of life begin to edit the story we had written for ourselves. And as a complex, new thread of grief and loss quietly fills the longing’s absence, we are left wondering how to make sense of it all.
In the presence of deep loss, today’s guest felt exactly the same way. Amidst the tension of the God she knew and the reality she was living, the only way she believed she could make sense of the pain was by wrestling her way to answers.
Her story is one of redemption and vulnerability and her perspective is a guiding light on the path of loss and disappointment. That is why I am honored to be joined by Mattie Jackson (daughter of country music legend Alan Jackson) on today’s episode of The Mary Marantz Show.
Mattie Jackson is an author, podcaster, speaker, and co-founder of NaSHEville, a women’s philanthropic apparel brand serving orphans, widows, and victims of human trafficking. In her first book, Lemons on Friday: Trusting God Through My Greatest Heartbreak, released in November of 2021, she chronicles the first three years of grieving her husband and her marriage. As she shares her grief, her healing, and her unshakeable faith with the world, her single greatest desire is to lead people to hope. Like she says…
“If someone suffering any sort of loss can hear what I’ve walked through and see hope in my story, then maybe they can walk away seeing a little more hope in their own.”
Mary’s new book, slow growth equals strong Roots is HERE! Click HERE to Order your copy today!
In sickness and health.
For better or for worse.
Those were the vows Mattie believed would be the bedrock of an aging marriage not one at its very beginning. It felt unfair and confusing that just three weeks shy of their first wedding anniversary he was gone. Never would she have imagined that at the age of twenty-eight, she would be suddenly widowed and left without the miracle she had believed for this side of heaven.
“It was a struggle because it really felt like a parent saying no to this really desperate request and not giving an explanation. And my Mom said it best, that when you do trust God in this way and then you are the one who gets the no answer, how do you repair that relationship?”
Mattie had always known God was perfectly good and perfectly sovereign but now, how could both of those things be true?
Did He cause this to happen? Or, did He just allow it?
On shaky ground, Mattie needed something firm to hold on to but what used to hold her steady seemed to be in question as well. She longed for clarity.
What Mattie would soon uncover though was that that clarity wouldn’t actually be found in the pursuit of understanding but rather in her ability to hold space for herself and the honest questions that rose to the surface along the way.
So today, join Mattie and me as we discuss the purpose God brought out of her pain and how she is learning to move forward in faith, not fear.
Tune in to hear:
How God redeems in the details
The grief rhythm that helped her process her pain
Why answers won’t give us the comfort we long for
“But friend, the absence of the gift we long for doesn’t mean there isn’t also treasure to be found in the midst of our grief.”
I can’t wait for you to take a listen! And if you are looking to give up comparing, performing, and achieving for your worth, I think you’ll LOVE my new book Slow Growth Equals Strong Roots! Available now everywhere books are sold! And while you’re at it, take our Achiever Quiz to see which of the 5 Achiever Types you are….
More From This Episode:
Connect with Mattie on Instagram and be sure to pick up her book, “Lemons on Friday: Trusting God Through My Greatest Heartbreak” wherever books are sold.
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